San Antonio Spurs' Stephen Jackson, left, and Minnesota Timberwolves' Andrei Kirilenko, right, of Russia, reach for a rebound and Spurs' Manu Ginobili (20) looks on during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

While the Timberwolves have been struggling all season to keep a healthy team on the floor, the San Antonio Spurs showed Sunday, Jan. 13, how easy things can be sometimes in the NBA.

Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, the foundation of the Spurs’ success, sat out the entire fourth quarter. Manu Ginobili, one of the league’s top sixth men, spent the second half in the training room after straining his left hamstring in the second quarter.

Even Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t think it was necessary to stick around for the conclusion of Sunday’s game, drawing an ejection with 7:22 left for arguing a call with his team up 13.

Popovich apparently felt his team was capable of handling the situation, and he was right. The Spurs cruised to a 106-88 victory at AT&T Center, a win that left the Wolves (16-18) 0-3 on this four-game road trip and wondering if they’ll be able to remain in playoff contention in the Western Conference — if the team ever gets completely healthy.

“We can’t look at the standings right now,” forward Andrei Kirilenko said. “The last few games, we haven’t played like a playoff team. To be in the playoffs, you have to win games. We need to start doing that again.”

Winning games could become a problem for the Wolves if they’re unable to change an alarming trend. In each of the first three games on this trip, the Wolves have gotten off to strong starts in the first quarter only to fade under the duress of their depleted roster.

For the third consecutive game, Wolves assistant Terry Porter served as acting head coach while Rick Adelman remained in the Twin Cities to be with his wife, Mary Kay, who has been hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. Adelman will not be with the Wolves for their game Monday night, Jan. 14, at Dallas, the final stop on this frustrating trip.

The Wolves did have two more players available for Sunday’s game, but J.J. Barea (back) and Lazar Hayward (sinus infection) are far from 100 percent healthy. Barea fought through fatigue after missing the last two games and ended up leading the Wolves with 15 points off the bench.

Speaking of the bench, the Spurs provided another example of how easy things can be in the NBA when you have enough productive players to compensate for Duncan, Parker and Ginobili becoming spectators.

The Spurs’ bench, led by guard Gary Neal’s 15 points, scored 55 points Sunday, making sure there would be no need for Popovich to bring Duncan or Parker back into the game.

Parker still led the Spurs with 20 points and six assists.

Every Spurs reserve that got in scored. All but two, guard Nando De Colo and forward DeJuan Blair, had two or more assists. That means the Spurs’ bench accounted for 17 of the team’s 31 assists.

All the Wolves could do was admire the Spurs with envy. Not only do they have a competent starting unit led by Duncan and Parker, the Spurs have the NBA’s best bench unit, averaging a league-leading 41.7 points and 11.3 assists.

How does an injury-plagued team like the Wolves compete with that kind of balance?

Barea was asked after the game about the difficulty the team might face in trying to maintain a positive attitude in the midst of so much adversity.

“It’s tough, but it’s a long season,” Barea said. “I’m going to do my best to try to keep everybody positive. I’ve been through situations like this before. Our second unit took a real drop when everybody got hurt. We’ve got to figure out our second unit again.”

Injuries have pushed Dante Cunningham and Alexey Shved into the starting lineup, and Adelman was happy with both players’ impact off the bench. Now, the Wolves are relying on Derrick Williams, Greg Stiemsma, Hayward, Lou Amundson and Ricky Rubio, who’s still trying to work his way back from a knee injury.

Against the Spurs, the Wolves’ reserves scored 39 points and had nine of the team’s 23 assists. Not bad, but not nearly enough.

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